


Family

by Felin_V



Series: Edelgard month 2020 [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Gen, Hello father, Hubert just have a complicated relationship with Edelgard, M/M, One Shot, Peaceful days, kinda angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24694660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felin_V/pseuds/Felin_V
Summary: A mini one-short series to celebrate Pride month (Edelgard month).The stories focus on the peaceful days Edelgard spends with her BEgles.This time, Edelgard and Hubert are being stubborn with each other.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & Hubert von Vestra, Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Series: Edelgard month 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773853
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Family

In the blue sky, the cloud was cleared, and a ray of warm sunshine shone past the flocks of birds in the air, creating shadows that stretched out onto the ground below. The pleasant sunlight seeped through the cracked space to share their warmth with the people behind the enclosure while the chirping sound of the bird offered their liveliness to everywhere it could reach. While the morning wind blew leisurely through the opened window of the grand palace, the crimson regalia strode along with the calm current of wind, enjoying the smell of fresh flower it carried along. As the strand of snow-white locks and the gold crown playfully reflected with the light that made its way into the hallway, Edelgard indulged herself in the freshness of the new day with a subtle smile adorned her face. 

Strolling through the hallway of the Enbarr palace in the morning was one of many routines Edelgard developed over the year of peaceful days. As her responsibility as the Emperor minimized, she learned to take her time just to enjoy every moment rather than rushing through everything like she used to. In the past, she would never understand why her wife, Byleth, enjoyed fishing so much. But now that she learned to take things slow, she began to enjoy the tranquility that came with it. Edelgard was enjoying the sight of the clear blue sky when, at the corner of her eyes, she saw a tall person that dressed with black cloths from head to toes, standing in front of the door to her destination. And so, with a relaxing smile, Edelgard greeted her retainer as she reached for the entry into her office.

“Good morning, Hubert.”

“Good morning, Your Majesty.”

As usual, Hubert would wait for Edelgard to settle down at her desk before he would report important matters and relay the plan for the day. However, today, as Hubert informed her of the details regarding previous issues she dealt with, he simply bowed to her as if he finished his duty already. And so, Edelgard inquisitively quirked her brow, urging more information from the retainer.

Sensing the question in his lady’s expression, Hubert simply elaborated calmly, “As of the plan for today, there was none, Your Majesty.”

“None? What about the matter with the Almyran’s merchants the other day?” 

“I had postponed the meeting, You Majesty. So please consider taking a day off and enjoy the weather outside.”

As Hubert finished with another bow that fulled with loyalty and respectfulness, it prompted Edelgard’s brow to quirk higher. It was unusual for her retainer to postpone the unfinished task like that. While Edelgard looked down at the empty desk with a pensive expression, her lilac eyes took in a glimpse of the calendar on her desk that had a red mark on today’s date. A beat later, Edelgard realized what today was. When Hubert saw a realization drawn on his lady’s face, he flashed a subtle, relaxed smile toward her before turning back on his heels, preparing to get back to his work. However, before Hubert could reach the wooden door, Edelgard stopped him. 

“Where are you going, Hubert?”

As Hubert turned back to his lady with a question in his expression, Edelgard continued, “You cleared my schedule just for the sake of today, wasn’t it? As to show my gratitude, I order you to take a day off with me as well.” 

Upon hearing that, Hubert turned his body to fully take in the crimson regalia with protest evidence on his solemn face. But before he could open his mouth, Edelgard stopped him again with a more serious voice. 

“Halt. I was not asking, Hubert. I ordered you. And so, as I am still your Emperor, you have to follow my order no matter what.” After seeing a defeated face from her retainer, Edelgard stood up while offering the man with a warm smile and a lighter atmosphere. “Come on, Hubert. If you don’t take this day off, I’m afraid your husband might come at me and complain nonstop about your busy schedule again.” 

Letting out a long sigh through his nose, Hubert spoke up again with an apologetic tone, “I deeply apologize for any problems Ferdinand might have caused you, Lady Edelgard. I will discuss this regard with him right away. So please do not worry and take this time to rest well.” 

Edelgard let out her sigh to compete with Hubert’s as she started to understand how it felt to be the one asking for the other to take a break. More often than not, it was her wife, Byleth, who would come to her and ask for a day off to spend time together. Sometimes, Byleth would ask Hubert to reschedule meetings for her so that they could have some free time together, and Edelgard could rest. Fortunately, with more free times at hand, Edelgard could remedy her guilt for the time she could not spend with her wife in the past. And that was why Edelgard was trying to get Hubert to take more time off from his works. She did not want her retainer to regret it as she did. 

And so, Edelgard approached the taller man and gazed at him with eyes filled with sternness. “Hubert. As a friend and the Emperor, I ask you to postpone everything in your schedule today and accompany me on my personal time instead. It won’t be a day off, but you just have to rearrange your schedule later.”

After the lilac eyes and the light yellow eyes started a staring contest for a while, eventually, Hubert hesitantly inclined his head and accepted the defeat. And so, minutes later, Edelgard found herself walking through the back garden of the palace with purple anemone in one hand, and Hubert followed close behind. As they walked together under a familiar, comfortable silence, Edelgard noticed the taller man peered at the flowers along the way with a relaxed shoulder. Seeing her retainer, her childhood friend, finally relaxed under the beautiful weather, it prompted a warm smile on her face. Edelgard led him to the very far end of the palace, away from the noises of the busy city. At the end of the serene passage was a sturdy, plain tombstone with a marble statue of a man that Edelgard knew so well at the top and a name carved on it.

_ Ionius von Hresvelg IX  _

Around the tombstone of the late Emperor were various more tombstones of his blood relatives as well as those who served under him. Among them was a tombstone with a specific name carved on it.

_ Marquis Vestra  _

As Edelgard walked over to her father’s gravestone, Hubert paused on his track with the light yellow eyes were drawn to his father’s name. After Edelgard kneeled in front of the great statue that portrayed no kindness like the real father she knew, she delicately placed down the anemone she prepared on the tombstone. 

“Hello, father. I hope you are doing well. As you can see, I’m doing better now. No more endless pile of parchments. And I got a lot more free time with Byleth too. Anyway, I have prepared your favorite flower again this year. I hope you like them.” 

In fact, she did not know which flower was her father’s favorite. But she just remembered one day, her father pointed at the pool of purple anemone when they were out picnicking, and then he said he liked those flowers because they had the same color as her eyes. Even though she told her father that her eyes color was a shade paler than those flowers, Ionius resisted that they were the same shade with the bright, kind smile he always wore. So she played along and somehow remembered that this anemone was her father’s favorite. And she would continue believing so. 

After Edelgard finished pouring out the recent events of her life into the gravestone below, she got back on her feet and turned back to see Hubert started at her with a rare soft expression.“Hubert. Since you are here already, why don’t you visit your father a bit? You’ve never visited him since the war ended, have you?”

Upon hearing the mention of his father, Hubert’s face immediately shifted to his usual emotionless face before solemnly refusing his lady’s suggestion. “That would be unnecessary, Lady Edelgard. Besides, I do not wish to take any more time from you.”

“Nonsense. I do have a whole day off, remember? You rescheduled it yourself.” 

As Edelgard finished her remark with a subtle smirk, Hubert sighed tentatively. It seemed that his plan to have his lady rest for today backfired on him desperately. Since Hubert just wanted to be out of the Emperor’s grasp already, he reluctantly walked over to the fine gravestone with his father’s name. With a glance, he could tell that compared to the late Emperor’s tombstone, his father’s stone was not well maintained, and there was no one came to visit for a long time. 

Hubert looked down at the run-down gravestone with a dark stare before he greeted his late father with a sneer. “Hello, father. Long time no see. I hope you are doing terribly awful at wherever hell you might be right now.”

As soon as she heard such a menacing impudence, Edelgard pitched the bridge of her nose and sighed hopelessly.  “You really hated him, did you?”

Still holding a sneer on his face, Hubert gladly turned back to Edelgard, who was standing not far from him. “I did. And I still do. He was nothing but a great shame in my life.”

There was a beat of silence as Edelgard looked at her childhood friend with a pensive gaze, trying to remember the day when they were young. As if she finished forming her thought together, Edelgard grimly spoke up with a lip that aligned in a thin line, “the reason you hate him so much...was it because of me?”

“...Yes. He was the reason for your suffering, Lady Edelgard. For that, I would never forgive him for what he had done as a von Vestra who supposed to devote his life for the Emperor.”

Seeing her retainer finished his remark with a dark cloud covered his light yellow eyes, Edelgard softened her features before shifting her eyes to the gravestone below. “I understand your grudge toward him. I did too. But Hubert. You know I never pay any mind to your bloodline, correct? von Vestra or not, I only care if you, as an individual person, choose to be by my side or not. Nothing more, nothing less. So don’t say that you or your father were obligated to serve the Hresvelg. Even if you decided to walk away right now, I would gladly let you go. Besides…” Edelgard paused to send her soft, gleaming eyes and a bright smile to Hubert before she continued, “I’m happy now, Hubert. I have you, Byleth, and every one by my side, supporting me as my dear companions I could never dream of having. My suffering had ended a long time ago. And so, you can rest your hatred now.”

As Hubert’s light yellow eyes pierced into the sincere lilac eyes before him, a whirlwind of odd emotions formed inside him and made him wanted to keep the scene unfold before forever. However, among those strange emotions was something terrifying that was trying to break through the logical reason he had been holding for years. Before he could suppress that feeling into its box, Edelgard spoke up again, stirring up that same feeling to break free. 

“Though...I assumed that you should know all of these already. So Hubert, why do you hate him, really?”

A heavy cloud of silence hanged over them as soon as that question sank into the atmosphere. Looking down, Edelgard saw Hubert’s white gloves curled in tightly into a knuckle, so she turned back oh her heels and started walking away from the taller man. “You don’t have to tell me anything you didn’t wish to. But I think you should tell your father. I assumed you said nothing when you put him to rest, right? Anyway, I wanted to pick some flowers before going back. It might take a while, so feel free to take your time here if you want. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to go back.”

As soon as Edelgard left him alone with the gravestone of his filthy father, the heavy cloud stretched itself further as if it was a scary night sky that would reveal itself whenever the sun left the horizon. It took him for a long time being in nothing but silence until he found the feeling that broke out from its box inside him. 

“How could you...”

There was a pause after that as if Hubert was debating over himself whether he should continue this ridiculous talk with his deceased father or not. 

“You always said I had to protect Edelgard with my life and surrender everything for her. But how could you betray your own Emperor? Ah, never mind. I did not care about your Emperor. Betraying him was one thing, but how could you hurt her? How could you rob a smile from her face? She was...the only thing I had left from the ruined family you built, and you took her from me...How could you…”

Hubert stopped again and tried to suppress his broad trembling shoulders. Before long, he let out a long sigh that allowed him to recompose once again. “Father. I hate you. I will never forgive you for what you had done to her. But…” As a peaceful smile started to appear on his face, he continued, “she’s happy now. She finally found a place she belongs to despite all the suffering you did to her. And so do I. Thus, I will not allow my hatred for you to ruin everything again.”

As he finished what he wanted to say to his father, or rather to himself, Hubert strengthened his posture, turning his back to the gravestone and never look back. When he reunited with Edelgard, she could see that his footstep was lighter than before. And so, walking side by side rather than having Hubert lacked behind, as usual, they found themselves back inside the hallway of the palace again. During their way back, they did not say or ask anything, deciding that it was better just to enjoy the comfortable silence they had. When they were in the middle of their way back to Edelgard’s office, suddenly, a lively chirping sound that resonated through the hallway reached their ears. A second later, Edelgard caught a glimpse of messy blue hair and bright orange hair, which were walking side by side down in the hallway. 

As soon as Edelgard and Hubert came into their views, Edelgard could see Byleth and Ferdinand beamed up and strode toward them with a spring under their steps.

“There you are. We were looking for you. Where have you been?” Ferdinand was the first who spoke up while Byleth, besides him, nodded along.

“Nothing special. Lady Edelgard and I simply enjoyed our free time together, that’s all.”

Right after Hubert nonchalantly said so, a wave of a surprise hit Ferdinand’s and Byleth’s face instantly. 

And it was Ferdinand who recovered from the unexpected remark while Byleth still stared at Edelgard with a strange glimmer in her cobalt eyes. “Wait. Both of you take a break? Together?” 

Edelgard huffed out at the dumbfounded Ferdinand before she explained how difficult it was to convince Hubert to take a break with her, prompting her retainer to argue his part solemnly. Edelgard continued her complaining until she noticed Byleth’s fond smile directed at her. Before she could ask if her wife had something to tell her, Byleth took the crimson gloves into hers and exclaimed excitedly with a bright smile, “Come on El. Everyone is waiting in the dining hall. It’s time to celebrate the 5th anniversary after the war.” 

And thus, the four of them walked together along the peaceful hallway, going to the dining hall to meet their dear friends. Along the way, whenever the bright, energetic sound resonated against the wall of the hallway, the dark, collected one would follow to spice the conversation up. And from time to time, the bright and dark bickering would be interrupted by a solemn, annoying voice that also accompanied by a calm, soothing one, ending whatever debate they had. When they reached the dining hall, more colorful sounds joined their party. 

As a child, it was said that you could not choose which family you would have born into nor who would be your father and mother. But you could choose whom you will spend the rest of your life with, and which kind of family you wanted to be with. As for Edelgard and Hubert, the Black Eagles family would always be the only family they chose to live with for the rest of their lives. A true family that they were more than happy to protect with everything they had. A family that was connected by nothing but the friendship, the utmost trust, and the special bond they had. 

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow, I didn't write this story about Hubert as the first one for my series even though I should because he's Edelgard's retainer...  
> Well. I might have more bias toward Doropetra, so... :p  
> Anyway, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy it. And feel free to leave any comments or kudos!  
> Also, I didn't put this in the story to make it kinda ambiguous but I actually head canon El to lost her father on the same day she defeated Rhea with Byleth but just during those 5 years when Byleth's gone.  
> And as a little note, in my country, we believe that if we still thinking about the deceased one (especially in a extreme way like holding a grudge or miss them), their spirit won’t be able to rest in peace and can’t reborn. I wrote the scene based on this.  
> Lastly, take care and stay safe out there.


End file.
